How do you make your software solutions or business idea an asset and well-protected? The theme: “INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY; YOUR LEGAL RIGHT, AN ASSET” explains it all.
Trademarks, industrial designs and other objects of intellectual property protection can be powerful tools for creating value for your business. However, they will not live up to those expectations if they sit passively on some register. They must be used and used creatively, pro-actively and with imagination. They must be transformed, from mere legal concepts and enforceable rights into commercially valuable assets, and that can be achieved primarily by putting them to work as tools for creating and developing a brand value for ones’ business

On Wednesday 8th, November 2017, National Association of Computer Science Students (NACOSS) OAU Chapter held an outstanding eye opener on Intellectual Property (IP), legal right, and making ones’ idea an asset. The students present at the event were given insight into basic knowledge regarding patents, copyright, trademark and trade secret which are the components of intellectual property.

The key note speaker Professor Oladitan, laid emphasis on the need for legal protection of Intellectual property. He defined intellectual property as something that is unique to an individual, an individual’s creation, such as inventions. The students present at the event were enlightened on different legal rights involved in protection of IP.
Patent is the right a person has over an intellectual property that prevents others from making use of it or selling it. Patent laws serve as guides for IPs. A copyright protects “original works of authorship.” A trademark protects words, names, sounds or other symbols that distinguish goods or serves from those manufactured or sold by others. A trademark can be perpetually renewed if it is being used in commerce. Trade secrets can generally comprise any information that gives a business an advantage over its competitors.

Conclusively;
All of these IP rights can be bought or sold. In fact, it is becoming more and more common for companies to be selling their patent portfolios.

Valuing these assets can present difficult challenges and is a separate column unto itself. But the first step is to understand the different types of IP rights your client might possess and how they can capitalize on those rights. This will become more and more common as our society continues to outsource traditional manufacturing and production and our economy is further driven by the assets more commonly found in the ongoing information age.

The speaker not only enlightened the students on IP, he also emphasized the need for creativity among young minds.